Substances capable of generating oxygen from water have been developed by an automated pharmacist. The machine, fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), analyzed Martian meteorites, as reported by space.com. The upcoming manned missions to Mars, necessitating air not only for astronauts to breathe but also as rocket propellant, stand to gain from this breakthrough, as indicated by scientists cited in the report. The need to transport large quantities of oxygen-producing materials from Earth may be obviated since oxygen can be derived from resources present on the Red Planet.
This experimentation was detailed in a study published in the journal Nature Production.
The inspiration for this concept stemmed from the recent revelation of substantial reserves of frozen water ice in Martian regions.
Chemical catalysts, crafted by robotic chemists, were identified as agents capable of triggering reactions that separate water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen gas, according to space.com.
The Martian asteroids utilized in the experiment were remnants of rocks ejected from the Red Planet due to celestial impacts.
By scanning these rocks with a laser, the AI-powered machine assessed over 3.7 million potential substances derived from six distinct metallic elements present in the samples, such as brass, nickel, iron, magnesium, aluminum, and calcium.
Operating autonomously, the robotic chemist synthesized 243 unique molecules during a six-week period of sample analysis. The most promising catalyst identified was effective in splitting water at a frigid temperature of minus 37 degrees Celsius, marking a record low temperature on Earth.
Jun Jiang, a co-senior author of the study and a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, expressed, “As a child, I harbored dreams of interstellar exploration,” as reported by Space.com.
The realization that the robot’s catalysts could effectively split water molecules to yield oxygen made me feel as though my childhood aspirations had materialized. The researchers speculated, “I even began envisioning a future where I could reside on Mars myself.”
Experts suggest that employing conventional methods, a human professor would have required 2,000 years to identify the optimal catalyst, underscoring the efficiency of this automated approach.
